Slashdot videos: Now with more Slashdot!

View

Discuss

Share

We've improved Slashdot's video section; now you can view our video interviews, product close-ups and site visits with all the usual Slashdot options to comment, share, etc. No more walled garden! It's a work in progress -- we hope you'll check it out (Learn more about the recent updates).

shewfig writes "The California legislature, which previously tried to ban incandescent light bulbs, just added to the list of banned things ... swear words! Fortunately, the measure only applies for the first week of March, and compliance is voluntary — although, apparently, there will be a 'swear jar' in the Assembly and the Governor's mansion. No word yet on whether the Governator intends to comply."

What makes these words so different? Is it religion? Brainwashed upbringing that gets passed on? Is it a class thing? Act good around me or I'll assume you are bad? They are just words, after all. What is the real difference between poop and shit? Very awesome and fucking awesome?

At worst cuss words are a reflection on someone's poor vocabulary. At best they are colorful. I have a similar reaction to someone saying "like, I was, like, going to go, like, to the store and like this guy like said..." as I would to someone peppering their conversation wish unnecessary swear words.

I'd be curious to hear from those who is truly offended by cuss words. Why? What would be the problem with the FCC allowing cussing on TV during the day?

Profanity often can nudge interaction towards less restrained and thoughtful expression. The budget didn't spiral out of control by itself; it broke down because of (a) the laws surrounding how budgeting is to be done (b) the fact that the two parties couldn't work with each other.

LoL, ok, i'm just playing devil's advocate here, but what if I am talking with a group of my peers who have no problem with cussing and then someone offended comes into the group. Does that mean we all (the originating group of non-offended people) have to quit cussing because the newb can't hand the language?

Wait, this sounds familiar... i think i saw this in a sexual harassment video one time. A group of people are standing around telling dirty jokes and a woman joined the group and became offended and reported them for sexual harassment.

I'm not actively offended by profanity. I grew up with it, hear it at work, in the media--about like we all do, I suppose. But even if I'm not actively offended by it, I'm not actively impressed by it either. Are you?

I suppose I may have had a bit of a "brainwashed upbringing" in that I had parents who were concerned that I learn to speak English well and communicate effectively. English is a language with an extraordinarily broad and varied vocabulary--in part because it's borrowed so heavily from so many other languages. When I hear a person who seems unable to construct a sentence without using four letter words--for whom "fuck" and its variants act as noun, adjective, pronoun and/or verb without any apparent notion of what that word actually denotes--I admit that at first blush I'm probably going to have a low opinion of that person. If I were an employer, I wouldn't hire him or her. I wouldn't want him or her dating one of my children.

I share your sentiment on "like" as a placeholder (I'm not too impressed by that either), but feel that even that is probably preferable to pointless (and invariably grammatically incorrect) references to sexual acts, excrement, and religious figures. And if you're making those references with a purpose to offend, are you really trying to communicate anything useful anyway?